


Sweet Escape

by LadyAJ_13



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Missing Scene, Post-Season/Series 01, References to Drugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26202199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAJ_13/pseuds/LadyAJ_13
Summary: She tips the little bottle from side to side, listening to the pills inside rattle. Vertigo. Only three of them, personal use - confiscated by a bouncer who summarily dispatched their owner onto the street. Oliver never stood for drugs in his club, and she won’t either. She opens the cap.
Relationships: Roy Harper/Thea Queen
Kudos: 4





	Sweet Escape

She tips the little bottle from side to side, listening to the pills inside rattle. Vertigo. Only three of them, personal use - confiscated by a bouncer who summarily dispatched their owner onto the street. Oliver never stood for drugs in his club, and she won’t either. She opens the cap.

“What are you doing?”

She jumps, and flips the cap closed. She turns and smiles at Roy. “Nothing. All done with the cloakroom? I need you to-”

“It looked like you were thinking of taking those.”

“I was counting them. I have to hand them over to the police.”

He smiles at her, and she feels her knees go a little weak, even all these months later. She’s always had a thing for a bad boy, but a mostly-redeemed bad boy with the looks of a model? No wonder she kept diving into the Glades for him.

“Good. Girls like you should stay away from that stuff.”

She bristles. “I’m not a good girl. And this is my club. Coming up against drugs is almost literally in the job description.”

“Thea Queen, bad? What did you do, take a fifty out of mommy's purse?”

She laughs coldly. “You haven’t known me long enough.” She twirls the pill bottle, and watches him track her movements. “I took these once. It didn’t go well. But other stuff…”

“Trying to escape.” He doesn’t say it like a question, but it feels like one. There’s no way he doesn’t know her story.

“My dad died, when I was twelve. I thought my brother died too. So yeah, I tried a few escapes.”

“And now you’re looking at that bottle again.” He takes it from her, and she wonders if she should be worried; if he might take them, or pass them onto a friend. She should deliver them to the police herself, but it’s a relief, almost, to have them out of her grasp.

“Oliver came back. And that was… unbelievable? I don’t know, like Christmas and birthdays and prom and everything else all rolled into one. But then he was… different. It was like I barely knew him any more. I hardly saw him because he was always busy, we never talked, because he didn’t want to let me in on anything going on with him.” She picks at her thumbnail. The manicure is flaking, but she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to get to a salon today. She’s about ready to just fall into bed and sleep, but she’s got to check stock and finish clear-up before she can leave. “Then he left again. Just after my mother helped level twelve city blocks and got locked up in prison. He  _ left.  _ It’s been  _ three months.” _ She feels her voice catch and swallows, blinking furiously. She sniffs. “And I look after his club. I deal with things. I handle them. But yeah. Maybe…” she trails off. Maybe she still wants that escape. Because everyone else leaves, but she stays right here, in the heart of Starling, left behind.

“Don’t. Don’t choose that way.”

“Why, am I too good for it?” she scoffs.

“Everyone is,” he says seriously. Seriously enough that she catches his gaze, then lets herself be drawn into his arms. “But no. Don’t choose that way, because… because I can’t see you fall, alright?”

She buries her face in his shoulder. “It’s  _ hard,” _ she says, muffled.

“Yeah, but you're strong.”

“I don’t want to be.”

“It’s not a choice.”

“Because you can’t watch it?”

There’s a beat of silence where she wonders if he’s going to answer. “Because I think I’d follow you down.”

Oh. She tightens her grip around his waist, hugging him to her. She’s glad it’s late - early - enough that most of the staff have gone home, because some of them already struggle to see her as the boss, and here she is full on clinging to Roy in the middle of the bar area. “Maybe we can be strong for each other,” she says finally. 

She feels more than hears his huff of laughter, and his embrace loosens. She steps back, and swipes surreptitiously at her face; she’d feel more self-conscious, but he’s looking a little glassy himself. 

“I’ll call the station about those,” she says, with a little nod at the pills. “Get someone to come pick them up.”

“Good idea.”

“And then I’ll try calling Oliver again.” She sighs. “Maybe he’s finally found cell service.”


End file.
